Last Call — Ziv Kitaro

I find that I spend not a small amount of time browsing kickstarter projects. It’s not that I’m looking for stuff to back, it’s just that I’m interested to see what people will come up with next. I’m also interested in trends (at the moment, the moment for example, there are tons of playing card's projects. That is normal playing cards, with the aces, and hearts not like a magic or anything like that).

So today, while browsing around I figured I should write about projects that I find interesting. Instead of just individually post them to Facebook. I want to do this on a weekly basis, but i can’t promise anything. Best way to kill a writing spree is to commit to a schedule.

This week I found nothing really interesting, except this game, and I want to talk a bit about video games on Kickstarter.

Novus AEterno: The Next Evolution in RTS Games

Novus AEterno looks like a fantastic game for people who are into Sci-Fi RTS game with a lot of depth. According to the kickstarter page, this is a game that is basically done, and the funds are going to be used to polish, expend, etc.

Now, here’s my problem with most computer games that we see on kickstarter, especially those that look really good and offer tons of functionality: they should cost more, and they will never launch on time. Shadowrun Returns was a well-run project that made $1.84M instead of the goal they set of $400k. The date was pushed from Jan 2013 to July 2013. The game also became bigger. This makes SR a fantastic example of a good product.

On the other hand, we have Double fine, who asked for the same $400k, received $3.3M. They were supposed to come up with something rather simple and launch in October 2012. We are now talking about seeing a first version (not yet a full release) on Jan 2014. They blew through the budget and made tons of mistakes. We are talking about Double Fine here; these guys invented most of the genres we work within today; they are pros.

Another example? Zombie Playground, a 3d action game. Foal was $100k; pledge was $167k. Mar 2013 was the initial release date. We have no idea when this game is coming out. It didn’t even hit the stretch that unlocks the whole game, just part of it and while I’m sure we will see that piece of the game, I’m not really sure when. They did come out with an Alpha in Oct 2013. I’m not on that reward level so I have no idea how far are they from the final version.

So, now let's get back to Novus AEterno. Take a look at what they are planing, and you will see why I’m sceptic about the goal they are asking for and the dates. UNLESS they really are almost done and this whole kickstarter thing is just another way to get clients in the door early and get some money while they are at it.

With all my concerns, I think you should back this. They will launch the game, even if it is later than they promise. As for the quality and feel of the final product? I believe that what they show us is real.

Bluetooth ZX Spectrum

SURPRISE, I lied, there is another project I want to tell you about. I just found this little gem, and had to update the post.

The Bluetooth ZX Spectrum It was one of the first computers my uncle had, and we had so much fun with it. NOW, this project is here, and it looks interesting.

The recreated Sinclair ZX Spectrum will be a Bluetooth keyboard, initially for iOS and subsequently Android / Windows phones & tablets. Says the tag line and before you close this page and pledge, I urge you to read carefully what is it exactly that they are planning for the funds.

This is a project for developers, people who had the original machine, and computer geeks. Unless something incredible happens, they are planning to produce 1,000 units, and that is it. It is interesting, and from the text on the project’s page clearly an engineer wrote it and manages it so… Good luck to them. It is a cool project

By the way, if you want to see projects that I backed, there is a pinterest page for that.